Like many people in Mississippi, Kevin and Nanine Parker have felt the sting of a strong recession and a weak recovery. Now, no longer able to make ends meet, they’ve reluctantly applied for food stamps.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s statement that the “very poor” don’t concern him comes at a time when the portion of Americans living in deep poverty is the highest in more than a generation while assistance varies widely and is often inadequate.

U.S. household income fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in 2010 and poverty rose to a 17-year high, setting the stage for the debate over jobs and the economy that will dominate the 2012 presidential race.